District positive in addressing bullying

Friday

Mar 22, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Bullying is a topic often discussed by students, parents, school staff and community members. Because of the seriousness of bullying, the Board of Education has adopted anti-bullying policies, and anti-bullying programs are taught and supported in all of our schools.

Bullying is a topic often discussed by students, parents, school staff and community members. We have all read and heard of incidents where bullying has led to more serious actions taken by those who were bullied. Because research on bullying tells us that around 70-75 percent of students nationwide will be bullied during their school years it’s important for us, as a school district, to take a positive approach to addressing and eliminating bullying in our schools. Because of the seriousness of bullying, the Board of Education has adopted anti-bullying policies and anti-bullying programs are taught and supported in all of our schools.

East Otero School District has defined bullying as “the use of coercion or intimidation to obtain control over another person or to cause physical, mental or emotional harm to another person. Bullying can occur through written, verbal, or electronically transmitted expression, or by means of a physical act or gesture.”

One of the most reported types of bullying today is cyber-bullying. The use of email, instant messaging, text messages and social media like Facebook and Twitter are often used to intimidate and/or threaten other individuals. Most often this form of bullying occurs when students are off school grounds. This is not possible for the school to deal with effectively because it isn’t occurring at school. Make sure your student understands that if this occurs they need to tell you and save any evidence of the incident. If the issue continues, as a parent you may want to involve law enforcement.

Are all student conflicts, differences in opinions or understandings acts of bullying? No, this is not true. Students, as all people, will have conflicts and will not agree on certain topics or ideas. Teaching students how to deal with conflicts and disagreements is an important life skill. Teachers and administrators in our schools have been trained to deal with student conflict and to teach peaceful conflict resolution to our students. Some conflicts can produce bullying if students don’t understand how to talk about and resolve conflicts effectively. Helping your student understand and practice conflict resolution skills will be an important part of growing up and becoming members of our community.

While there are many programs and activities to prevent bullying, students are the key to any bully prevention. If your student feels like they are being bullied then they need to tell an adult. If your student witnesses another student being bullied, they need to tell an adult. If your student tells you about bullying at school please contact the principal of the school, counselor or your student’s teacher. There may be times that the adults at the school are unaware of bullying incidents because they have not been reported. Reporting bullying is the most effective action to reduce bullying incidents.

As parents we have different beliefs and perspectives in raising our children. We do not always agree on what is right or wrong. The one thing we do have in common is that we want a safe place for our children to attend school. By working together and communicating with school personnel we can insure a safe and secure learning environment for all of our students. If you would like more information on this topic, one of the best resources is www.stopbullying.com. This site provides tools to talk about bullying and how to effectively solve conflicts.

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